Railway-signal



B. E. ANDRESS. RAILWAY SIGNAL. APPLICATION FILED 1AN.-24, 1920.

Patented June 1, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l..

B. E. ANDRESS.

RAILWAY SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.24, 1920.

Patented June 1, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

w: I I 51TH r n/nus one BERT E. ANDRESS, or PORT ALLEGANY, PENNSYLVANIA.

, RAILWAY-SIGNAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 1, 1920.

Application filed 'J'an-uary 24, 1920. SerialNo. 353,846.

To all whom it may concern Railway-Signals, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to railway signals, and more particularly to signals designed to be disposed adjacent to a station for the purpose of stopping a train or indicating that the track is clear and that the train may pass.

One of the general objects of this invention is to provide a signal of this character which is in accordance with the requirements of the rules of the Interstate Commerce Commission with regard to railway signals of this character, and in this connection to provide a signal which is urged to a danger position and which is normally held in this danger position, but which may be shifted to a clear position by hand.

A further object is to provide a signal of this character including a rotatable shaft carrying clear and danger targets for use during the day, and provide in connection with the shaft a lantern with a danger signal screen which is shiftable by a rotation of the shaft in one direction into a position in front of the lantern to indicate danger, and by a reverse rotation of the shaft shiftable into a position away from the lantern to indicate that the track is clear.

A further object is to provide a construction of this character wherein the screen of colored glass is disposed entirely in a vertical plane and shifts inthis, plane so that snow cannot accumulate upon the face of the screen and cake or freeze thereon, thus reducing the visibility of the light or obstructing the pass'ageof light entirely.

A further object is to provide a construction of this character including two rock shafts carrying signal targets, an intermediate lantern supported between the rock shafts, and screens of red glass mounted in vertical planes parallel to the rock shafts, and provide operative connections between the rock shafts and the respective screens whereby a rotation of the rock shaft to a Fig. 4';

danger position will cause a rotation of the screen to a danger position, and a rotation of either rockshaft to cause the display of the targets to a safety or clear position will cause a rotation of one or the other screens in a vertical plane to its safety position- A further object is to provide a construction of this character which is much cheaper to make and installthan the-ordinary'semaphore signal, and which is less likely to be affected by snow or sleet- Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My inventionis illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure l isa sectional viewthrou-gh the wall of a station showing in elevation my signaling mechanism applied thereto;

, Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on the line- 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the signal operating levers;

FEQE.

Fig. 4 is a top plan vlew of the construc tion illustrated in Fig. 1, the wall of the station being in. section;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line. 5-5 of 9 Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66 of Fig. 1;

Fig. is a detail sectional view through one of the rock shafts showing partly in section the signal'actuating arm projecting therefrom and showing in section the flexible coupling between the arm and the rod connecting the arm to the signal screen;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary section through the depending portion 38 of the screen.

frame showing the connection of the rod 54' to the screen frame.

My signaling device comprises, as will be seen from Figs. 1 and 4, a supporting frame designated generally 10. The inner end of this frame is angularly bent or otherwise 7 formed to provide a bracket 11 which is bolted or otherwise attached to thewall A of the station. Projecting. downward from the frame and preferably pivoted thereto are the supporting brackets 12, which terminate at their lowerends each in a foot or plate 13 throughwhich pass bolts extend ng through the wall of the station.

The frame is formed adjacent its inner end and at its outer end with laterally projecting arms 14 formed to provide bearings 15. Through these hearings pass the rock shafts 16 and 17 which extend any suitable distance through the wall A into the station, and at their outer ends carry signal targets and at their inner ends are provided with means whereby the rock shafts may be rotated through a quarter circle. Mounted upon the outer end of each shaft is a relatively square target 18 formed with a more or less striking terminal or finial 19, one side of this target being painted white, while the other side is painted red, as indicated by the lines in Fig. 1. Extending at right angles to the target 18 are the semi-circular target sections 20, which are angularly bent at their extremities and riveted to the target 18, and to assist in causing the rotation of these targets and hold the targets firmly in place and also to form stops for the targets, I provide on each shaft 16 or 17 an angular arm 21 which, at one end, has a collar 22 held to the shaft by a set screw, pin, or like device, this angular arm at its end being bifurcated or otherwise formed to embrace one of the target sections 19, as at 28. It will thus be seen that a rotation of either rock shaft 16 or 17 through a quarter circle will cause the display of the corresponding red signal target or the white signal target. Thus, when the target 18 of the shaft 17 stands vertically, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the red signal target will be displayed on one side, that is on the side facing the direction in which the train is coming, the signal target 19 under these circumstances not being visible. The signal target on shaft 17 is for trains coming in one direction, and the signal target on shaft 16 is for trains coming in the other direction.

For the purpose of rotating each shaft through a quarter circle, I mount upon each shaft a disk 24 and an arm 25. The disk is perforated at a plurality of points, and a bolt 26 goes through any one of these perforations and holds the arm in adjusted angular relation to the shaft 16 or 17. From this arm extends a chain 27 which co nects to a lever 28, which is somewhat resilient laterally, and which is pivotally mounted upon a segment plate 29 having a lug 30. The arm is mounted upon a pivot bolt 31.

WVhen it is desired to actuate the signal to the appropriate rock shaft 16 or 17. It will thus be seen that the signal is always urged to a danger position and is held in this posirailroad track.

tion by the action of the weight 32, the rotation of the signal in this direction being limited by the stop formed by arm 21.

In order to provide for displaying the signals at night, I mount upon the supporting frame 10, a lamp or lantern designated generally 33. This is of any suitable character, but is preferably a two-way lantern, that is it throws the light up and down the Bach longitudinal member of the frame is provided, as shown in Fig. 6, with an outwardly projecting stud bolt 34, and pivotally mounted upon this belt is a screen supporting plate which has free rotation in a vertical plane. The body of this screen supporting plate to one side of the pivot is annular in form, as at 36, and carries the transparent, colored screen 37. This screen is preferably made of glass and is red in color so that when the screen is disposed in front of the'lantern, a red light will be thrown up or down the track, as the case may be, this red light indicating that the train must stop.

In order to balance this screen frame 35, I provide opposite the annular frame 36 the counterbalancing extension 38,.which is provided with a counterbalancing weight 39 on one side. In order to provide for the rotation of the screen from a position in front of the lamp to a position away from the lamp, I mount upon the shaft 16 or 17, as the case may be, a collar 40 having an outwardly extending arm 41. This arm at its extremity is perforated for the passage of a bolt 42, carrying a nut 43, this bolt having a relatively wide flange 44 bearing against one side of the arm- 41, and beyond this flange being screw-threaded, as at 45.

Fitting over this screw-threaded. portion and engaged therewith by internal screw-threads is a coupling 46 having a contracted aperture in its end for the passage of the angular end 47 of a rod 48. This angular end 47 is provided at its extremity with a ball 49 which fits within the coupling 46, as indicated in Fig. 7.

It will be seen from Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 that each socket has its aperture considerably larger than the shank or rod 47 so that the ball 49 and the'rod 47 with the coupling 46 constitute a ball and socket joint permitting a rocking movement and rotation of the rod 48 relative to the coupling 46. The same sort of connection is provided at the extension 38, that is the. extension 88 is provided with the outwardly projecting socket 50 having therein a ball 51 on the extremity of an angular shank or rod 52, this shank in turnbeing provided with an interiorly screw-threaded socket 53. The rod or shank 48 is also provided with an interiorly screw-threaded socket 53. Connecting the sockets is an angular rod 54 which is screw-threaded at its extremities for engagement with the sockets and held thereto by means of jam nuts 55. This connection consisting of the rod- 54; and the angularly bent heads on the rod with the ball and socket joint between one of these heads and arm 41 and the other head and the mo tension 38 permits the connecting rod 54 to move laterally when the arm 41 moves with the shaft 16 or 17 while at the same time the connecting rod draws or pushes on the extension 38 to shift the signal screen out of or into its danger position, as the case may be. Thus, the oscillation of the screens is effected without the use of gearing, which would be liable to become covered with snow or incrusted with ice or otherwise jammed.

The operation of this mechanism will be obvious from what has gone before. The signals are both the same, but, as before stated, one is for the up track and the other for the down track. Each of these signals is normally held at its danger position, so

as to display a red target during the day and a red light at night, by the weight 32. When it is desired to shift either signal to indicate that the track is clear, the corresponding lever 28 is depressed until it passes the lug 30, when it springs behind this lug. The rotation of the rock shaft through the action of the lever 28 and chain 27 shifts the target from its danger display position to its safety position where the white side of the target is displayed up or down the track, depending upon which signal is actuated, and at the same time the rotation of the rock shaft shifts the screen from in front of the lamp or lantern. As soon as the lever 28 is released from the lug 30, the weight 32 will return the parts to their normal or danger position so as to again display the red screen into position across the front of the lamp. Thus, the signal is normally held in a danger position and thus if a station agent or signal man forgets to shift the signal upon an order, it will stop the train. In other words, no positive action need be taken in order to show a danger signal, but only in order to show a clear signal. This is in accordance with the rules of the Interstate Commerce Commission, and it may be said that this signal has been approved by the Pennsylvania Railroad, and other railroads, and is shortly to be adopted by these roads for use at stations.

lVhile I have illustrated a construction which has been found thoroughly effective under actual service tests, yet I do not wish to be limited thereto, as it is obvious that many changes might be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim 1. A railway signal of the character described comprising a supporting frame having bearings, a rock shaftdisposed in said bearings and carrying clear and danger targets at its outer end, a lamp mountedupon the frame, a transparent screen pivoted upon the frame for oscillation in a vertical plane parallel to the rock shaft, means operatively connecting the rock shaft to the screen to cause the screen to move from a position in front of the lamp upon a rotation of the rock shaft from its danger target displaying position to its clear target displaying positionand including an arm on the rock shaft, an angular member operativelyconnected to the arm on the rock shaft and to the screen, a rod, a second angular member, there being universal joint connections between said rod and the first named angular member, and a universal joint connection between the second named angular member and the screen, means normally urging the rock shaft to a position where the danger target is displayed and the screen is disposed in front of said lamp, and manually operable means for rotating said shaft to a position to display the clear signal and to shift the screen away from in front of the lamp.

2. A railway signal of the character described comprising a horizontally disposed supporting frame having bearings, a horizontally disposed rock shaft disposed in said bearings and carrying clear and danger targets at its outer end disposed at right angles to each other, a lamp mounted upon said frame, a transparent screen pivoted upon the frame for oscillation in a vertical plane parallel to the rock shaft, means operatively connecting the rock shaft and the screen to cause the screen to move from a position in front of the lamp upon a rotation of the rock shaft from its danger target displaying position to its clear target displaying position and including an arm on the rock shaft having a socket with a contracted aperture extending at right angles to the arm and in the plane of movement of the arm, an angular member having a ball disposed in said socket to thereby form a universal joint between the angular member and the socket, a rod connected to said angular member, a second angular member connected to the extremity of the rod carrying a ball, and a socket mounted upon the screen and in which said ball engages for universal movement,means normally urging the shaft to a position 'zontally disposed rock shaft disposed in said bearings and carrying clear and danger targets at its outer end disposed at right angles to each other, a lamp mounted upon said frame, a transparent screen pivoted e upon the frame for oscillation in a vertical plane parallel to the rock shaft, means operatively connecting the rock shaft and the screen to cause the screen to move from a position in front of the lamp upon a rotation of the rock shaft from its danger target displaying position to its clear target displaying position, and including a connecting rod, an arm on the rock shaft, the connecting rod having universal joint connections with the arm on the rock shaft and with the screen respectively.

4:. A railway signal of the character described comprising a horizontally disposed 20.

therein, the extremity of the rock shaft supporting frame, a rock shaft mounted connected to one of said targets, said arm constituting a stop limiting the rotation of the rock shaft.

5. A railway signal of thecharacter described comprising a horizontally disposed supporting frame having bearings, a horizontal rock shaft disposed in said bearings, danger and clear signal targets mounted upon said rock shaft at right angles to each other, a stop carried upon said shaft and coacting with the frame to limit the rotation of the shaft in one direction, a Weight carried upon the shaft and urging the shaft to a position where it will display the danger signal, said stop at this time contacting with the frame to thereby prevent further movement of the rock shaft in this direction, the end of the rock shaft being provided with a disk having a plurality of openings, and an arm loosely embracing the shaft and having a bolt engaging with any one of said openings, whereby the arm may be adjusted into different angular relations on the shaft, and a manually actuatable shifting means connected to said arm.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

BERT E. ANDRESS. 

